Washington (AFP) – Tyler Herro scored 30 points as the Miami Heat reached the NBA playoffs with a thrilling 123-114 overtime win at the Atlanta Hawks in their Eastern Conference play-in clash on Friday. The Heat, who recovered from a ten-game losing streak in March to reach the play-in, will now face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the playoffs. Miami becomes the first tenth seed to reach the NBA playoffs via the play-in, and they did so via two wins on the road, having won in Chicago on Wednesday.
Miami dominated the opening half, leading by 17 points before going in 62-53 up at the interval, but the Hawks fought back superbly, taking the lead 91-88 with 7:36 left. Atlanta then opened up a 98-92 advantage before Miami came back again, only for Trae Young to level the game with 1.1 seconds remaining after a driving lay-up. But the Heat saved their best for last, with Davion Mitchell making three three-pointers in overtime and Herro adding two more.
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“Two competitive teams, fighting for the last spot in the playoffs. That was exactly what you saw. Both teams were deserving. I loved how my team fought,” said Herro. “Every single run that they made, we answered. And I feel like this entire season has really built us up for this point.”
The Cavaliers will start as heavy favorites in the best-of-seven series, which gets underway in Cleveland on Sunday. Young top-scored for Atlanta with 29 points while Onyeka Okongwu scored 28 and grabbed 12 rebounds.
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